Throat slasher Gavin Hanratty left his ex-partner’s new man millimetres from death in a shocking attack.

Hanratty was furious because the victim, who he disapproved of, was spending time with his children, a court heard.

He turned up at his former partner’s home to confront the man, who armed himself with a hammer, and Hanratty ended up slashing his neck, leaving a 10cm wound.

As Hanratty was jailed for eight years, a judge said he was just millimetres away from killing him.

Mr Justice Jay said: “You have got a few millimetres and this is absolutely grievous bodily harm with intent, dead body, murder, 25 years minimum.

“You are millimeters away from that.

“The differences are millimetric but the consequences are massive.”

Newcastle Crown Court heard the situation came to a head in the early morning of June 28 when the furious 33-year-old turned up at his ex’s home to confront the victim.

Prosecutor Mark Giuliani told the court Hanratty had been unhappy about his ex’s choice of new partner, who had been spending time with his children, because he believed the man to be a drug user.

Mr Giuliani said: “His basis of plea is for some time prior to the attack, the defendant had been concerned about his ex-partner’s relationship with the complainant.

“It is clear the defendant had been told the complainant in this matter was a drug user.

“Whether it is true or not, the crown accept he had a genuine belief in that.”

In the violence that followed, which involved the victim arming himself with a hammer, Hanratty used a craft knife to slash his neck.

Mr Giuliani told the court if the injury had been “literally a few millimetres deeper”, his victim’s carotid artery and jugular vein would be cut - resulting in certain death.

Hanratty, of Vine Street, Sunderland, was initially accused of attempted murder but the charge was dropped when he pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and having an offensive weapon.

The judge said the victim has been left with a permanent, “unsightly” scar on his neck and has said in his victim statement he has been badly effected by what happened to him, resulting in a loss of confidence and fear of going out.

The wound was treated at hospital with staples he discharged himself, against medical advice, later that day.

The court heard Hanratty is a former drug user, who has awareness of the “devastating” impact drugs can have on families and did not want his children exposed.

John Wilkinson, defending, said it was not a sustained or planned assault and consisted of just one blow.

Mr Wilkinson said: “This was not a case of a knfie being taken there deliberately to cause harm.

“There was an element of excessive self defence, if he’s being attacked by a man with a hammer.”